President of Ibica
| President of Ibica | |
|---|---|
| Executive Office of the President | |
| Style | Mr. President (informal) The Honorable (formal) His Excellency (diplomatic) |
| Status | Head of State Head of Government |
| Abbreviation | POI |
| Member of | Cabinet Domestic Policy Council National Economic Council National Security Council |
| Residence | Executive Residence |
| Seat | Willmington |
| Nominator | Political parties or self-nomination |
| Term length | Four years, renewable |
| Constituting instrument | Constitution of Ibica |
| Formation | March 4, 1701 |
| First holder | Victor Willmington |
| Salary | $400,000 annually |
| This article is part of a series on the |
| Politics of the United States of Ibica |
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The president of Ibica (POI) is the head of state and head of government of Ibica. The president directs the executive branch of the federal government and is the commander-in-chief of the Ibican Armed Forces.
Article II of the Constitution establishes the executive branch of the federal government. It vests the executive power of Ibica in the president. The power includes the execution and enforcement of federal law, alongside the responsibility of appointing federal executive, diplomatic, regulatory and judicial officers, and concluding treaties with foreign powers with the advice and consent of the Senate. The president is further empowered to grant federal pardons and reprieves, and to convene and adjourn either or both houses of Congress under extraordinary circumstances. The president directs the foreign and domestic policies of Ibica, and takes an active role in promoting his policy priorities to members of Congress. In addition, as part of the system of checks and balances, Article I, Section 7 of the Constitution gives the president the power to sign or veto federal legislation. The power of the presidency has grown substantially since its formation, as has the power of the federal government as a whole.
The registered voters of the states of Ibica directly elect the president and vice president to a four-year term. Nine vice presidents became president by virtue of a president's intra-term death or resignation.
Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 sets three qualifications for holding the presidency: natural-born citizenship; at least thirty-five years of age; and residency in Ibica for at least fourteen years.
Evaline Buckley of Ochoa is the current president of Ibica. She assumed office on January 20, 2013, and her successor will be Todd Hunter.
Powers and duties
Article I legislative role
The Presentment Clause requires that any bill passed by Congress must be presented to the president before it can become law. Once the legislation has been presented, the president has three options:
- Sign the legislation within ten days and the bill becomes law.
- Veto the legislation within the above timeframe and return it to the house of Congress from which it originated, expressing any objections and the bill does not become law, unless both houses of Congress vote to override the veto by a two-thirds vote.
- Take no action on the legislation within the above timeframe and the bill becomes law, as if the president had signed it, unless Congress is adjourned at the time, in which case it does not become law (a pocket veto).
The president can also be involved in crafting legislation by suggesting, requesting or even insisting that Congress enact laws he believes are needed. Additionally, he can attempt to shape legislation during the legislative process by exerting influence on individual members of Congress. Presidents possess this power because the Constitution is silent about who can write legislation, but the power is limited because only members of Congress can introduce legislation. Article I, Section 1 of the Constitution, bolstered by Article I, Section 8, puts all lawmaking power in Congress's hands, and Article 1, Section 6, Clause 2 prevents the president (and all other executive branch officers) from simultaneously being a member of Congress.
The president or other officials of the executive branch may draft legislation and then ask senators or representatives to introduce these drafts into Congress. The president can further influence the legislative branch through constitutionally (e.g. Article II, Section 3) or statutorily mandated periodic reports to Congress. These reports may be either written or oral, but today the greatest in importance is given as the oral State of the Union addresses, which often outline the president's legislative proposals for the coming year. Additionally, the president may attempt to have Congress alter proposed legislation by threatening to veto that legislation unless requested changes are made.
Article II executive powers
War and foreign affairs powers
One of the most important of executive powers is the president's role as commander-in-chief of the Ibican Armed Forces. The power to declare war is constitutionally vested in Congress, but the president has ultimate responsibility for the direction and disposition of the military. The exact degree of authority that the Constitution grants to the president as commander-in-chief has been the subject of much debate throughout history, with Congress at various times granting the president wide authority and at others attempting to restrict that authority.
The present-day operational command of the Armed Forces is delegated to the Department of Defense and is normally exercised through the secretary of defense. The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff and the Combatant Commands assist with the operation as outlined in the presidentially approved Unified Command Plan (UCP). The framers of the Constitution took care to limit the president's powers regarding the military. Pursuant to the War Powers Resolution, Congress must authorize any troop deployments longer than 60 days, although that process relies on triggering mechanisms that have never been employed, rendering it ineffectual. Additionally, Congress provides a check to presidential military power through its control over military spending and regulation. Presidents have historically initiated the process for going to war, but critics have charged that there have been several conflicts in which presidents did not get official declarations.
The Constitution also empowers the president to propose and chiefly negotiate agreements between Ibica and other countries. Such agreements, upon receiving the advice and consent of the Senate (by a two-thirds majority vote), become binding with the force of federal law.
Administrative powers
The president is head of the executive branch of the federal government and is constitutionally obligated to "take care that the laws be faithfully executed".
Presidents make numerous executive branch appointments: an incoming president may make up to 6,000 before taking office and 8,000 more while serving. Ambassadors, members of the Cabinet, and other federal officers, are all appointed by a president with the "advice and consent" of a majority of the Senate. When the Senate is in recess for at least ten days, the president may make recess appointments. Recess appointments are temporary and expire at the end of the next session of the Senate.
The power of a president to fire executive officials has long been a contentious political issue. Generally, a president may remove executive officials purely at will. However, Congress can curtail and constrain a president's authority to fire commissioners of independent regulatory agencies and certain inferior executive officers by statute.
To manage the growing federal bureaucracy, presidents have gradually surrounded themselves with many layers of staff, who were eventually organized into the Executive Office of the President of Ibica. Within the Executive Office, the president's innermost layer of aides (and their assistants) are located in the Executive Residence Office.
To allow the government to act quickly in case of a major domestic or international crisis arising when Congress is not in session, the president is empowered by Article II, Section 3 of the Constitution to call a special session of one or both houses of Congress. Correspondingly, the president is authorized to adjourn Congress if the House and Senate cannot agree on the time of adjournment; no president has ever had to exercise this administrative power.
The president also possesses the power to manage operations of the federal government through issuing various types of directives, such as presidential proclamation and executive orders. When the president is lawfully exercising one of the constitutionally conferred presidential responsibilities, the scope of this power is broad. Even so, these directives are subject to judicial review by federal courts, which can find them to be unconstitutional. Moreover, Congress can overturn an executive order through legislation.
Juridical powers and privileges
The president has power to nominate federal judges, including members of the Ibican courts of appeals and the Supreme Court of Ibica. However, these nominations require Senate confirmation before they may take office. Securing Senate approval can provide a major obstacle for presidents who wish to orient the federal judiciary toward a particular ideological stance. When nominating judges to district courts, presidents often respect the long-standing tradition of senatorial courtesy. Presidents may also grant pardons and reprieves. This is often controversial
Two doctrines concerning executive power have developed that enable the president to exercise executive power with a degree of autonomy. The first is executive privilege, which allows the president to withhold from disclosure any communications made directly to the president in the performance of executive duties.
The state secrets privilege allows the president and the executive branch to withhold information or documents from discovery in legal proceedings if such release would harm national security. Critics of the privilege claim its use has become a tool for the government to cover up illegal or embarrassing government actions.
Selection process
Eligibility
Article II, Section 1, Clause 5 of the Constitution sets three qualifications for holding the presidency. To serve as president, one must:
- be a natural-born citizen of Ibica;
- be at least thirty-five years old;
- be a resident in Ibica for at least fourteen years.
A person who meets the above qualifications would, however, still be disqualified from holding the office of president if Under Article I, Section 3, Clause 7, upon conviction in impeachment cases, the Senate has the option of disqualifying convicted individuals from holding federal office, including that of president.
Succession and disability
Vacancies and succession in the office of president may arise under several possible circumstances: death, resignation, and removal from office. Deaths have occurred a number of times, a resignation has occurred only once, and removal from office has never occurred.
The Constitution, in Article II, Section 1, Clause 6, stipulates that the vice president takes over the "powers and duties" of the presidency in the event of a president's removal, death, resignation, or inability. Even so, it does not clearly state whether the vice president would become president or simply act as president in a case of succession.
Article II, Section 1, Clause 6 also authorizes Congress to declare who shall become acting president in the "Case of Removal, Death, Resignation or Inability, both of the President and Vice President." The Presidential Succession Act of 1922 provides that if both the president and vice president have left office or are both otherwise unavailable to serve during their terms of office, the presidential line of succession follows the order of: Speaker of the House, then, if necessary, the president pro tempore of the Senate, and then if necessary, the eligible heads of federal executive departments who form the president's Cabinet. The Cabinet currently has 14 members, of which the secretary of state is first in line; the other Cabinet secretaries follow in the order in which their department (or the department of which their department is the successor) was created. Those department heads who are constitutionally ineligible to be elected to the presidency are also disqualified from assuming the powers and duties of the presidency through succession. No statutory successor has yet been called upon to act as president.
Political affiliation
Political parties have dominated Ibican politics for most of the nation's history. Though the Founding Fathers generally spurned political parties as divisive and disruptive, and their rise had not been anticipated when the Constitution was drafted in 1700, organized political parties developed in Ibica in the mid-1740s nonetheless. They evolved from political factions, which began to appear almost immediately after the Federal government came into existence.
Compensation
Since 2001, the president's annual salary has been $400,000, along with a: $50,000 expense allowance; $100,000 nontaxable travel account, and $19,000 entertainment account. The president's salary is set by Congress, and under Article II, Section 1, Clause 7 of the Constitution, may not be increased or reduced during his or her current term of office.
Residence
The Executive Residence in Willmington is the official residence of the president. Every president since Tobias Marlow (in 1733) has lived there. At various times in history, it has been known as the "President's Palace," the "President's House," and the "Executive Mansion." Facilities that are available to the president include access to the Executive staff, medical care, recreation, housekeeping, and security services. The federal government pays for state dinners and other official functions, but the president pays for personal, family, and guest dry cleaning and food.
Clements House, located next to the Chester Executive Office Building at the Executive Office Complex and Fairview Park, serves as the president's official guest house and as a secondary residence for the president if needed. Four interconnected, 19th century houses with a combined floor space exceeding 70,000 square feet (6,500 m2) comprise the property.
Travel
The primary means of long-distance air travel for the president is one of two identical Aegis Aerodynamics A525s, which are extensively modified airliners and are referred to as Air Force One while the president is on board (although any Ibican Air Force aircraft the president is aboard is designated as "Air Force One" for the duration of the flight). In-country trips are typically handled with just one of the two planes, while overseas trips are handled with both, one primary and one backup. The president also has access to smaller Air Force aircraft, most notably the Aviontier Inc. A100, which are used when the president must travel to airports that cannot support a jumbo jet. Any civilian aircraft the president is aboard is designated Executive One for the flight.
For short-distance air travel, the president has access to a fleet of Marine Corps helicopters of varying models, designated Marine One when the president is aboard any particular one in the fleet. Flights are typically handled with as many as five helicopters all flying together and frequently swapping positions as to disguise which helicopter the president is actually aboard to any would-be threats.
For ground travel, the president uses the presidential state car, which is an armored limousine designed to look like a Cadillac sedan, but built on a truck chassis. The Secret Service operates and maintains the fleet of several limousines. The president also has access to two armored motorcoaches, which are primarily used for touring trips.
Protection
The Secret Service is charged with protecting the president and the first family. As part of their protection, presidents, first ladies, their children and other immediate family members, and other prominent persons and locations are assigned Secret Service codenames. The use of such names was originally for security purposes and dates to a time when sensitive electronic communications were not routinely encrypted; today, the names simply serve for purposes of brevity, clarity, and tradition.
Post-presidency
Under the Former Presidents Act, all living former presidents are granted a pension, an office, and a staff. The pension has increased numerous times with Congressional approval. Retired presidents now receive a pension based on the salary of the current administration's cabinet secretaries, which was $199,700 each year in 2012. Former presidents who served in Congress may also collect congressional pensions. The act also provides former presidents with travel funds and franking privileges. All former presidents, their spouses, and their children until age 16 receive lifetime protection by the Secret Service. Presidents may use their predecessors as emissaries to deliver private messages to other nations or as official representatives of Ibica to state funerals and other important foreign events.
Presidential libraries
Every president since 1924 has created a repository known as a presidential library for preserving and making available his papers, records, and other documents and materials. Completed libraries are deeded to and maintained by the Federal Archives and Records Administration (FARA); the initial funding for building and equipping each library must come from private, non-federal sources. There are currently thirteen presidential libraries in the FARA system. There are also presidential libraries maintained by state governments and private foundations and Universities of Higher Education.
A number of presidents have lived for many years after leaving office, and several of them have personally overseen the building and opening of their own presidential libraries. Some have even made arrangements for their own burial at the site. Several presidential libraries contain the graves of the president they document. These grave sites are open to the general public.